Pasadena, Texas teen, Gabriel 'Gabe' Fernandez 'accidentally' shot dead by his best friend while playing with gun.
A 13 year old Texas teen has died after 'accidentally' being shot dead by his 'best friend' while the boy showed a gun at a Pasadena home.
Killed was Gabriel 'Gabe' Fernandez – after a bullet fatally struck the boy in the head as a group of boys played with a loaded gun.
The identity of the boy who killed Gabe Fernandez has not been released.
The boys were said to have thought the gun was unloaded because the clip had been removed.
The teen who is believed to have shot the gun lives with his grandparents, who have said they don't own a gun. Police are still investigating the incident, including the origin of the firearm, and no charges have been filed.
According to Valdez, her son, Gabriel went over to his friend's house almost every day and walked home from school with that friend every day.
'He loved my son. They were best friends,' the mother told of the boy who shot dead her son.
Gabe Fernandez mother: 'I could see where the bullet had exited out of his head'.
What started as a normal Saturday, where Gabe and his 15-year-old brother Nick went over to their friend's house, ended in tragedy when Valdez received a 'hysterical' call from her older son about 20 minutes after the boys had left her home.
'He was just hysterical, telling me that 'Gabe's dead, Gabe's dead.' 'What do you mean Gabe's dead?' 'Gabe's dead, he shot him in the head,'' Valdez recalled.
'I ran over and there was people standing outside and little girls crying,' the mother said.
'I could see where the bullet had exited out of his head,' Valdez said.
Nick said that a group of teens were in the room with a gun that he said had the clip taken out of it, so they all thought it didn't have any bullets in it. But in reality, many guns hold a bullet in the chamber, even once the clip has been removed.
Valdez said her older son just kept saying, 'It was an accident, we didn't know. It was an accident'.
Gabe was in the eighth grade at Queens Intermediate School in Pasadena, where he played defense on the Hornets football team.
The athlete will be buried in his school football jersey, Valdez said.
Another jersey will be signed by his teammates, framed and hung in the locker room, the mother added.
Valdez has also gotten comfort from her decision to donate Gabe's organs, so that his death can mean life for others. She's opted for open donation, which means she'll have the ability to meet people who receive organs from her son.
In the aftermath of Gabe's death, as his friends stop by, Valdez has said she's taken the opportunity to try to teach them from this horrific experience.
'I keep telling my son's friends who are coming over, "If you see a gun, just leave. If you're hanging out with your friends and they're talking about it and they bring it out just leave… you don't have to be cool. Just walk away,"' she said.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Valdez shared the details of upcoming funeral arrangements for Gabe.
The service will take place on on Saturday at Vazquez Funeral Home, located at 750 Uvalde Road in Houston, from 2pm-9pm.
'All are welcomed to come and wish my baby safe travels to heaven,' she said.
Of note, 23 Houston-area children killed by gunfire in the past year, including 3 already in 2019. Seven of the 23 shootings were listed as accidental shootings, or about 30 percent reported the Houston Chronicle.
Welcome to a trigger happy brave new America….